When Darkness Falls
by Hildebrant
Summary: AU In a land known as Fuuka, a lone swordsman is on a quest for revenge on the demons which ruined his life. The Demons known as Hime. Berserk Mai Hime fusion
1. Chapter 1

My newest Mai Hime fic. I don't own the characters, nor would I ever want to.

**When Darkness Falls**

_"Battle not with monsters, lest you become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss_

_also gazes into you." Fredrich Nietzsche. _

The capitol city of Fuuka, Garderobe shone brilliantly in the morning sun. Multiple towers jutted from the castle grounds, five each. Each of them resembling fingers reaching to the sky. Within one of the towers, a discussion was going on. "So I hear he's on the move, continuing to hunt us down" These words were followed by a small smile and then a sip of green tea. The one who spoke to them was obviously not feeling threatened by the news. In recent months, she and her fellow Himes, women bestowed with special powers and abilities by the holy red star in the sky had begun falling, falling to a young soldier and his massive blade.

"It was a mistake to let him survive, usually we aren't that careless" Another woman said as she flicked back a lock of her silky black hair, her appearance just as the look in her eyes, cool and calculating. "No matter, one man will hardly make a difference in the long run. He can cut down as many of us as he likes, he's still no match for us, the true hime" The other girl smiled as she once again took in another sip of green tea.

"Maybe so, but if he manages to cut down all of the weaker Hime, then its only a matter of time before he makes his way to us, so maybe we should take action before it gets too out of control" The other woman said as she uncrossed her arms, and proceeded to leave the room she shared with her partner. "I'm going to appoint this mission to Nao, to kill him as soon as possible" The dark haired woman replied. "Are you sure that's wise?" The other woman said sitting down her green tea. "She's far stronger than any of the others who he's cut down, so she should be all that we need to kill him" The dark haired girl replied. Seeing very little to change her mind, the woman sat down her tea. "Very well Natsuki, I'll leave all of it in your hands, it is now your duty to have this man eliminated at all costs. We can't have him going around murdering without just cause, especially when its our own race" The woman spoke.

"I will Shizuru, I promise to do everything in my power, to have him eliminated" Natsuki spoke. "Go, and defend our world" Shizuru spoke to her charge.

Walking down the flight of stairs from the tower, Natsuki looked on towards the kingdom at the peaceful events below. Children ran and played, mothers held gatherings amongst their friends, and fellow women yet, what would appear strange was the large abscence of males in the vicinity. Men were really only kept on hand for the act of reproduction, but once their lead alchemists and scientists were through with their research, even the men they possessed would no longer be needed. This one lone male seemed hell bent on taking all of their kingdom away for some unknown reason, along with their lives.

This was unacceptable to Natsuki, she would not have her kingdom taken away and torn to the ground by this monster. She would fight for it no matter the cost.

Making her way over to the breeding chambers, Natsuki looked to where Nao would be most likely teasing the men kept there. Opening the door, Natsuki found Nao, teasing the men inside, taunting the chained up men, flashing glimpses of the more sacred areas of her body, leaving the men chained up with only glimpses and not the touch they so desperateley desired.

"Oh you are alll so fun to tease, so much fun to taunt and leave humiliated. Its only a matter of time until we're rid of all of you for good, and the whole male race, will become nothing more than a memory" Nao said as she arrogantly strode over to one of the chained up males. The looks of fear and shock on the men's faces only made Nao's smile grow larger.

"Nao, quit hastling them. We aren't done with them yet, and we need you for a mission" Natsuki said walking in. "Oh, and what brings the high and mighty butch bodyguard of our esteemed Goddess down to the squalors to meet little old me?" Nao asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm and a smile to match. "I take it you've heard about the killings of some of our comrades in the west?" Natsuki enquired. "Maybe, like some guy with a huge sword is going around slicing up Himes and is slowly making his way towards our castle?" Nao said in a voice that clearly stated she wasn't interested.

"We need you to go out and take care of him, he's cut down five of our fellow Hime already and we don't need the number growing anymore than its already at" Natsuki spoke. "So you want me to handle all the dirty work as opposed to doing it yourself, how typical" Nao said rolling her eyes. "Don't make me unchain them Nao, they're angry and desperate enough as it it, desperate enough to do more than just rape you" Natsuki warned Nao as she spun a key around one of her fingers. Flinching slightly, Nao stepped back and inched her way towards the door. "You bitch!" Nao snarled at Natsuki. Natsuki was well aware of Nao's history with rape.

Nao was brought into this world from a mother who was raped and died giving birth to Nao. To this day Nao felt that the act of rape was even worse than death itself. "He's making his way from the west, we need him stopped before he makes his way here. Come on Nao, its time for you to earn your keep as a Hime and kill him" Natsuki spoke. "Fine by me, for all I know he's probably just another disgusting rapist anyways" Nao said as she stormed off out of the room.

Nao angrily stormed past several of her fellow Himes. The nerve of that ice bitch, using her only known weakness like that to just order her around. If not for fear of being tossed back into that pit with those bastards she'd just step aside and let that so called swordsman run her through. Still getting rid of him would rid the world of one more worthless male. Walking along, she found Mai, outside playing with the youngsters. It was hard to believe this girl was said to be the third strongest of the Himes compared to Shizuru and Natsuki when she had such a strong disdian for bloodshed and violence.

"Ok everyone my eyes are closed, now go ahead and hide" Mai yelled to the kids who soon assumed the positions that they hoped the friendly Hime known as Mai wouldn't find them in. While searching, Mai's eyes soon found someone else: Nao.

"So I guess you aren't here to join in?" Mai's voice now no longer held the playfulness that it did with the young children. "No, I'm just making my way through. The top sent me some orders. There's someone I have to take care of" Nao said cooly. "Oh, so they sent you to take care of him?" Mai said, her voice suddenly sounding surprisingly empty. "Yeah that's right, you want to take my place?" Nao asked already knowing the red head's answer. "Never" Mai replied. "I knew you'd say that, it is him afterall. He has cut down several if not all of our comrades in the west. Or maybe you don't want me to kill him for another reason" Nao asked with a slight smirk. She didn't miss the sight of Mai flinching at the sight of that.

"On second thought I think I may even play this game with you as well. What do we have over, here!" Nao said as she plucked a young boy out of the bushes by the back of his neck. "Young and male, not a good combination around here kiddo, you may want to stay in those bushes for the rest of your life" Mai could see where Nao was going with this, and it angered her. "Or maybe you're still here because someone allows you to stay here, someone very very important here is your mother, whomever could it be?" Nao asked with a devilish grin that many of the Hime know as her trademark. "Could it be that you're the son of a Hime?" Nao asked, already knowing the answer. "Nao put him down this minute" Mai warned. Nao however tuned Mai out and continued her own little game. "I think you just might be the son of a Hime. But who's your papa, hmm? It takes two to tango little boy. So tell me, has anyone ever told you who your papa really is?" Nao asked, her grin remaining unchanged. "ENOUGH!" Mai yelled as the familiar flaming rings appeared around her arms and ankles, clearly trying to tell Nao that she had overstepped her bounds. Finally giving in and dropping the little boy, yet still wearing a triumphant grin when she saw the little boy run over to Mai's side, fearful of the dark red haired woman who had him by the neck.

"You really are too much fun Tokiha, by the way thanks for letting me play your little game, I hope you had just as much fun playing mine" Nao said turning on one heel and towards the door. Angered, Mai was ready to storm off after the girl and let her feel just how hot the fire of her rings were, only to be stopped by a tug at her dress. Looking back she saw the young boy whom Nao had bullied, tears almost welling up in his eyes as he fought to put on a brave face. Disengaging her rings, Mai stooped down to the boy's vision. "Its okay, she's gone now, she won't bother you anymore" Mai said to the young boy as she ran her fingers lightly through his unruly mop of light colored hair. "Mai, why did she say those things to me?" The young boy asked. "No one else is around, the other kids ran when they saw my rings. You can call me what I really am now" Mai said softly as she put her hand to the back of the young boy's head. Hearing this, the young boy smiled and they began to talk to each other much more openly.

_Cannon fire riddled the ear drums of all who ran through the battlefields. Some ran from the impending explosions, other ran to be the first to strike down their enemies, be it with a sword or with a spear. A battle had already taken place in this lot no longer than five hours ago, but it had subsided, now that one side's forces had been reduced to a small mountain of corpses. Most of this had been done by a lone soldier with a massive sword. Said soldier was now laying amongst his kills, tired out from the long and exhausting fight. He tensed slightly when he heard footsteps. Gripping the large blade he prepared to swing it into his next victim until he saw who it was. "Well, got a little too into your work did you?" He asked with a slight smile on his face. His friend whom he spoke of offered no reply, save for rolling his eyes at his friend's attempt at humor. "Come on give me your hand" He ordered. From out of the hole he reached his hand up and grasped his friend's out stretched appendage and felt himself being pulled up. "Come on, there's some people I'd like to introduce you to" He spoke. _

_"New recruits?" he asked, finally breaking his silence. "In a manner of speaking. They call themselves Hime, and they call themselves the Goddesses of victory and..." "I'm not interested in women Reito" the swordsman said in response to Reito's offer. "Why? Because you believe that old tale about women being a source of bad luck on the battlefield Tate?" Reito asked. "Maybe" Tate replied. "Well maybe you should give them a chance, who knows, they might just be special..." _

Slowly opening his one lone eye, Tate rose up from his space under a tree. His ears were met with the sounds of his armor folding and shifting along with his body as he rose to a standing position. Throwing his hood over his head so as not to arouse suspicion from anyone. He had already killed five Hime in the western area. He was now a wanted man amongst every kingdom in the nation. It was at least another hour or so before he met someone, that someone was a woman. Her horse was dead and her clothing was ripped and torn in various places. Normally one would be concerned, but something about this whole thing had made him feel uneasy. Slowly he approached her. This had gotten her attention.

"Oh thank goodness you came, you happened along out of the blue like a knight out to save a poor desperate maiden like me, oh the Heaven's be praised" Her own praise wasn't reaching his ears however as he walked past her and came upon the horse. Looking down at the beast, he noticed no other footprints, no marks in the dirt that would belong to a gang or a group of muggers or thieves had come upon the area. Then there was the horse. The animal's throat was ripped open and the flies weren't as plentiful. The blood seeping out of the neck of the poor beast was still red and fresh, the outer air obviously had not reached it as of yet. "Excuse me, I was just attacked by a bunch of muggers and you want to pay more attention to my horse? What kind of a man are you?" The red haired woman asked of the armored figure in front of her.

"I'll lend you my help M'lady but I must ask you one small favor in return" The man in armor spoke at last.

"What would that be, kind sir?" She spoke, sarcasm evident in her tone. Her face soon changed to that of pure shock as the armored man in front of her unsheathed his massive blade and brought it down to point right at her. Turning around to see the boiling fire that was in his lone eye, She could do nothing but listen in to him as he spoke to her.

"Don't fuck with me" He growled at her. He didn't hesitate in pointing his sword at her and he looked hell bent on using it as well. Slowly backing away, the look of worry was erased from her countenance with that of arrogance. "So, the infamous Hime slayer has revealed himself to me, looks like my plan worked afterall" Nao said with a bit of confidence in her voice.

"The snake, The Wolf, The Dragon, The Ogre, and the Spider. Those were the last things I saw, before I lost my arm and my Eye and all of my friends!" Tate yelled.

"My my, quite touchy about that aren't you? Well they sent me here to kill you, and that's what I'm here to do" Nao said as she let the tendons in her fingers slowly grow and alter their molecular structure to that of steel.

"Go ahead and try it you bitch!" Tate growled as he gripped his sword with both hands and assumed a stance befitting of a swordsman. "Yes, lets" Nao said just before she leapt at Tate.

Swinging her claws in an attempt to slice into Tate's skin. This was not to be as Tate blocked it with his sword. Spinning around Tate slammed his blade into Nao's stomach, sending her flying onto the ground. Just as she began the healing process, she noticed a shadow falling down on top of her. Quickly looking up, she saw Tate come down with his readied to stab right into her. Nao quickly rolled out of the way as the tip of Tate's blade burried itself into the ground, piercing the earth. Nao prepared to jump in and swing her claws at Tate once again, only to be interrupted by Tate swinging the tip of his massive sword into Nao yet again. Slicing into her stomach and sending her flying back onto the ground. Nao slowly staggered up to a standing position, trying to shake lose the cobwebs, only to once again see the sword of Tate come flying at her. Narrowly dodging the blade, Nao could only stare in shock at the blood that flew back from her face. The blade had seemingly gotten a cut in afterall. Staggering back. Nao rubbed her face, quickly retreating back into the nearby woods, Nao looked into a nearby puddle, and noticed a long gash forming horizontally along the front of her face along the bridge of her nose, and to the sides of her face along both of her cheeks. This was truly scary. To think that he could get in such a delicate cut with such a giant blade. He was more than just a maniac, he was a master of his sword. "A Monster" Nao spoke. She couldn't speak for long as the tree behind her was literally sliced apart by Tate's giant blade. Nao could only scurry away and try to find more cover. She had one last ace in the hole to try against the swordsman if she was to survive this encounter. Nao watched as he slwoly moved in and threw back his giant blade onto his shoulder. Locating Nao amongst the brush, he moved in for the kill

'Now, before he gets any closer' Nao thought. Placing her hands on the ground. Nao let her webbing spread along thr ground and watched as it entagled itself around the swordsman's leg. She smiled as he soon tried moving in the thick substance. "Now you're mine, you can't do a thing if you can't swing that sword. Now prepare to die!" Nao screamed as she ran in to begin slicing away at Tate.

Nao watched however, as Tate brought his sword up and sliced out of the webbing and brought the sword down on Nao, slicing straight down across her face. Nao felt herself being brought straight down to the ground. Bringing her hand to her face, Nao felt even more blood begin flowing from her face. Nao soon noticed something else. Her vision in her right eye, was soon covered and filled with blood. The cut the swordsman had dealt her had robbed her of one of her eyes.

"You...you..you...you bastard!! You cut out my eye!!! You'll pay, you'll paaayyy you baaasstarrd!!!" Nao screamed as her body soon exploded in a bright, red light and Tate watched within the light, as Nao began to change shape. Tate was all too familiar with this moment. He had seen it before. He was well aware of it and what she would become. In a matter of seconds, what stood before Tate was a giant spider like creature. Nao's own body from the waste up was on top of the eight legged being and beneath it was a pair of jaws lined with gigantic fangs made for ripping apart flesh and bones.

"Now my pathetic little swordsman, you can see what type of mess you've gotten yourself into. When a fly like you gets caught in my web, all that's left for you to do is wish for a quick death!" Nao screamed at Tate. Tate, rose up and prepared his sword, pointing it at Nao and narrowing his lone eye, readying himself for an attack. Nao responded by leaping right at Tate and let her lower jaws bit down on Tate's arm. The fangs however were not strong enough to pierce the reinforced steel of Tate's prosthetic arm. Nao frowned in anger at this, but smirked, knowing that if the swordsman's arm was pinned down by her teeth, he couldn't use it. He seemed to be aware of this.

"Don't get so cocky you bitch, I've still got one free arm left" Tate said cooly. His sword was unfortunatley too big and bulky to swing in such a confined space, so he'd have to make do with the small knife he usually kept on his person.

"I'm afraid that it'll do you no good, my pitiful little swordsman" Nao smiled. Tate raised an eyebrow at what she had just said, when his thoughts were suddenly interrupted, by what appeared to be a tail, flying right towards his face. Tate just barely dodged a barbed tail flying right at him, yet it still managed to leave a noticeable cut along the right side of his face. "Hahahahah! You can dodge all you like, but you're still just a worthless human, you'll tire, and eventually you'll give up, and when that happens my tail will fly straight through the back of your skull, sending your brains all over the grassy floor, it'll truly be a beautiful sight" Nao said excitedly.

"Yeah I bet all the rest of your fellow Hime bitches are really going to enjoy that" Tate said, trying to buy some time to keep Nao from sending her scorpion like tail into his face. Keep her talking, keep on breathing was the mantra going through Tate's mind in regards to this moment in time.

"Don't make me sick. I don't give a damn about any of them. All those prissy, high and mighty little bitches. Just sit on their asses all day looking down on everyone, even me! One of their own. All they want is to ensure their own survival...and they'll do it at the cost of their own kind, just feed more lambs to the slaughter. Even if those lambs are one of their own species!" Nao yelled no longer caring to hide her dislike for her fellow species. In Particular the head priestess Shizuru and her pet bitch Natsuki. "If I do manage to get away from you it won't matter. They'll just seal away my powers, and then feed me to the prisoners in the Breeding chambers" Nao replied.

"What're those?" Tate asked, still trying to buy time for himself. "Since you're about to die at anytime right now and I can't stand the rest of those bastards I'll let you in on all of our nasty little secrets" Nao replied. "To keep our species alive, we keep men we've collected along the way. Only the most desperate and only the most starved and afraid and chain them up in our dungeons. We have a few rounds with them and when we give birth, we kill the males, and keep the females, and when the females come of age they're converted to Hime like me" Nao said with a venemous smile on her face.

"Gee, what an improvement" Tate muttered, making sure Nao could hear him. "Very funny, making fun of me just like the rest of those worthless whores. It makes me even happier knowing that they'll at least remove you and the rest of the male species from this planet" Nao smirked.

"You aren't joking are you?" Tate asked. Deep inside he knew she wasn't, and that disturbed him. "Hardly. Our best scientists and alchemists are working on a way to erase the entire male species and ways to make it so females can now reproduce without the need to depend on your useless flesh" Nao sneered.

"I always knew something was up, that your group was up to something. Back when Reito first introduced us to you and the rest of the Hime's, all of it was like one giant trap" Tate said, his anger growing at the spider-like Hime in front of him.

"All of you and your pathetic fellow soldiers were nothing more than flies caught in our web. Caught and killed and devoured" Nao said with pride while her evil smile never left her face. "I hated to admit it but Shizuru and that pet bitch of hers Natsuki came up with an ingenious plan back then. She promised your leader a country's worth of gold and his own kingdom and all he had to do was offer up all of his men and feed them to us as an offering to the Hime Star" Nao said, thinking back fondly to that day. A day that would be permanently burned into Tate's memory, when all of his fellow soldiers had met their deaths. The images of his men getting bitten in half by the gigantic maws and devoured by the beasts known as Hime's. His vision soon became clouded over with rage as the painful memories all came flooding back to him.

"No smartass remarks or mouthy replies My pathetic little swordsman? Well then if we're through with the banter, then its time that you died!" Nao replied as she sent her tail flying right at Tate's head. Thinking as fast he could, Tate let the tail come and quickly lowered his head, while Nao's tail pierced the palm of his hand. This caused a surprised shock to appear on Nao's face as she watched Tate's head dissappear down by his pinned arm. Nao watched as Tate seized a string and pull it back with his teeth.

Nao could only watch in horror as Tate's arm exploded with a cannonball flying out of it and ripping apart her tail and lower body. Nao screamed at the pain which ripped apart her body and loosened her hold on Tate and watched him go sliding backwards in the direction of his sword. Gripping the fallen blade, Tate let loose a war cry and swung his sword directly at Nao, cleaving her in half and off of her Spider body. Tate didn't bother hiding the smile that went across his face as Nao's blood flew all over his head and his armor. Nao didn't notice or feel her body fall to the ground as it was sliced off of the top half of her body. Her voice was shaking and blood was pouring out of her bottom half, as well as comign out of her mouth in coughing spasms.

Tate leaned on his sword and observed the damage done to the palm of his hand. It was torn open but nothing a good dosage of medicine and bandaging couldn't take care of.

Sheathing his sword across his back, Tate threw back his cloak and prepared to move on. He was stopped however by the voice of the dying Hime.

"Hey, Mr. Swordsman, you're going after the rest of them aren't you?" Nao managed to get out before going into another coughing fit. "That's right. I'm going to whipe out every last one of them, till all of the Hime are nothing more than a bad memory" Tate replied, not bothering to turn around and face the dying creature. "Well, coughs You know I can't stand them so please coughs make them all bleed slowly for me" Nao said to Tate. "I'll make sure of it" Tate replied, walking off into the direction of the capitol city.

Once Nao was sure he was out of sight, she began talking and saying what would be her last words. "I...I..I'm coming home mother, I'm coming back, I'm coming to see you..mama...he set me free...I don't have to take orders...from them anymore mama...no more mama...no more...I did good mama, I told him to kill them all mama. But I didn't tell him everything mama, oh no...I didn't tell him...he's...a...fa..." Nao's words never reached the air. They dissapeared in her throat and vanished along with her life.

Back in Fuuka, Mai and the young boy she was playing tag with earlier, watched the sunset together. Mai looked over his young profile. He was only five years old. He was kind of shy but was still playful with some of the younger children. Most of the other girl's mothers didn't like having him around, but tolerated him for Mai's sake. She had told them that he was a young orphan she had taken in during one of her trips to a neighboring country, although some people in the castle had suspicions due to the boy's appearance.

Looking down at him, Mai let her arms wrap around him and embrace him lovingly. "Hey, you want to hear a poem my mother told me when I was younger?" Mai asked the boy. He nodded his head, wanting to hear Mai's sweet words. "Seven blackbirds in a tree count them, count them what do they see? One for sorow two for joy three for a girl four for a boy five for silver six for gold seven for a secret that's never been told" Mai finished the poem and spoke. "That's our little poem, no one can take that away from us" Mai said as she let her lips touch the young boy's forehead.

"Come on, lets go inside" Mai spoke as they both rose up from the ground to return to the castle.

As mai walked along with the boy, a very disturbing feeling rose up in the pit of her stomach. Like something was behind her, something fierce, and unstoppable. Inside she felt it was only a matter of time until it was right on top of her and everyone else in the castle.

There's chapter 1, read and review


	2. Chapter 2

**The End of Heartache**

_**Still don't own Mai Hime, nor do I want to own it. Anyways read and review**_

_But I'm not a slave to god that doesn't exist_

_And I'm not a slave to a world that doesn't give a shit_

_Marilyn Manson - The Fight Song_

In her chambers, Shizuru sipped the last of her tea and sat down her cup. The Footsteps leading up to her chambers, calm and composed with every step, confirmed her thoughts and brought a slight smile to her lips. It was Natsuki. Natsuki obviously had some news for Shizuru on the recent activities of that swordsman, but Shizuru chose to break the silence herself. "Natsuki, I'd like you to come over to my desk, and take a look at something" Shizuru ordered. Following her mistress' orders, Natsuki complied. Looking down at the bottom of the tea cup as she was instructed, Natsuki noticed a small stalk resting at the bottom of the cup.

"It never rose to the top Natsuki, not even once when I drank from this cup, did that stalk rise" Shizuru said closing her eyes upon speaking those words. Natsuki knew what Shizuru spoke of. An old piece of folklore stated that good luck was abound if the stalk rose to the top of the teacup. If it didn't, then it was obvious that good luck wasn't with the drinker. Seeing that the lesson was over, Natsuki spoke up to tell her mistress of what had happened.

"Nao never returned, its been one whole day and she hasn't come back. I think its safe to say she won't ever be coming back to Garderobe" Natsuki said closing her eyes.

Shizuru broke the silence once again. "So it means he's still on the move and still coming for us. I knew there was a reason the stalk never came to the top of my tea today" Shizuru said, almost solemnly. Putting personal matters aside, Shizuru rose from her seat and over to a nearby map. "How many days away is he?" Shizuru asked. "At least four days away without rest" Natsuki replied.

"Then we'll need to divert his attention a little further. Sending one Hime obviosuly wasn't enough, we'll have to throw in another to further deter him." Shizuru spoke. "Two Hime's might give him some more trouble than just one" Shizuru mentioned.

Seeing her mistress' point, Natsuki spoke. "Who can we afford to send at him? We can't go on our own or else the whole city itself would fall apart" Natsuki spoke. Silence filled the room until Shizuru spoke. "We'll send Akane and Sister Yukariko. Akane's tonfas and her own transformation, combined with Yukariko's long distance attacks and illusions might be just enough to kill him" Shizuru said seriously.

"Are you sure that's wise. Akane hasn't been the same since that day, four years ago. She may not even offer any resistance or attack him at all. She may even allow him to kill her just so he can end her grief" Natsuki said, seeing a slight error in her mistress' plan. Hearing her words, Shizuru spoke once again.

"Then we'll have to make her want to attack him, by any means necessary" Shizuru said, coldly in a manner that only Natsuki had heard her speak in. In a tone of voice that meant defying her would earn you an audience with the Ferryman of the River Styx. "Yes, my mistress" Natsuki spoke, feeling an audible chill go up her spine as she left Shizuru's chambers to summon Akane.

Once alone, Shizuru filled her teacup up with a fresh batch and began to sip it once again. She was at half a cup when she noticed something again. The Stalk still hadn't risen to the top of the cup.

_"Come on Akane once more I can almost see the baby's head now push, Push!" Shouted Youko the head midwife for the capitol city. "Why can't I hear anything? Why isn't it crying? What's wrong with it?" Akane cried at the distress of not hearing the cries of a newborn baby even though she pushed and pushed with no results, and no one was giving her any answers. "Okay sweetie just keep pushing, keep it going and, here it is!" Youko shouted triumphantly as the baby was removed from Akane, but all was still silent. "What's wrong? Why is it so quiet? Let me see it please!" Akane shouted, hoping to hold her child close to her at least once. _

_"Youko sensei please, let me hold it please!" Akane pleaded. Youko Sagisawa had delivered more than a hundred babies and in turn Himes into this world. But for all the births that were sucessful, there were also some that weren't. This was one of them. _

_"Akane-chan...I'm so sorry" Youko spoke to Akane in a voice barely above a whisper as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. The same tears were not threatening to fall from Akane's eyes, as she took in the horrible news. The news no mother wanted to hear. Her own child was stillborn._

Mai watched as the young children of the kingdom played amongst one another. Some of the girls played with their dolls, some played tag while others played hide and seek. Looking over, she saw the little boy sitting over by the wall by himself, observing everyone else instead of playing with the others. Mai also could not help but notice the look of sadness on the boy's face. He was alone and none of the other children had approached him. Mai was aware that the many girls of the castle town were told to never take an interest in boys or to play amongst them, and that the boy was only there because he was taken in by Mai. This had earned him a name amongst the other hime's: The Bastard. It angered Mai to no end when she heard her fellow comrades say that about him. If only the laws of this town weren't so harsh then she'd be able to tell them all the truth, but if that were the case then she and the boy would be living in peace, with his father. Such dreams would have to wait for another day. Nao had not returned and it was a safe bet that the swordsman had killed her.

Mai was startled out of her thoughts when a voice called out to her. "Mai, come here, we need a favor". Looking over, Mai could see that it was Natsuki who had called out to her. Making sure the boy was okay, Mai walked over to where her superior stood. "Nao hasn't returned. Meaning we can only assume the worst. We need you to gather up Akane from her chambers, we're sending her and Sister Yukariko to deal with that nuisance" Natsuki finished.

"Akane? But she hasn't recovered, she's still..." Mai spoke before being interrupted. "He killed Nao, and he means to continue the job until all of us are dead. That includes you too Mai. The sooner we kill him, the sooner we save our own skins!" Natsuki yelled back. "Besides, its been 4 years, she's had more than enough time to recover" Natsuki said walking away. 'Like you would know, you never gave birth Natsuki' Mai thought to herself angrily. Managing to bite her tongue long enough, Mai took in a deep breath and ascended one of the towers until she came to Akane's chamber. She had never ventured out of her room and was only kept alive by the food brought to her by her handmaidens. Mustering up her courage, Mai opened the door to Akane's room.

Looking in, the room seemed to be a forest of cobwebs and dust, and on the bed lay a slumbering girl, known to Mai as her good friend Akane Higurashi.

Natsuki walked back to Shizuru's chambers and after opening the door began to speak. "I seriously have my doubts about sending in Higurashi, she's become a shut-in and refuses to come out of her room, moving her that far may be a task in itself" Natsuki spoke in an exasperrated tone of voice. Rising from her chair, Shizuru walked over to Natsuki, and let her fingers massage Natsuki's shoulders. "If she does offer up trouble in going out for the attack, then leave her to me. I have ways of making things work" Shizuru said to Natsuki in a very very cold voice.

Slowly making her way over to the girl, Mai spoke, hoping to get her attention. "Akane, sweetie, you need to get up. The higher ups are expecting you to go out and fight for them. Akane?" Mai said to her sleeping friend. Mai got a response when Akane slowly rose from the bed, and in her arms was a child's doll. Akane spoke to Mai upon being woken up. "I'm sleeping with my baby Mai, can't you come back later?" Her voice was tired, and the bags under her eyes were dark and dominating her face. Mai felt a slight tremble go up her spine at the sight of this. Would she had been like this, if she had lost a child? Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to Akane's room opened up, revealing Natsuki. "Mai, you're taking too long. You were given your chance now it's our turn. Akane, rise and come to Mistress Shizuru's chambers" Natsuki ordered.

"My baby still needs me, he still wants to be near his mama" Akane replied back weakly. "Your baby is a child's toy, it's not even real. Now get up! We have work for you to do and if you don't want us to throw you out of this kingdom or throw you into the breeding grounds and leave you there, then get up!" Natsuki yelled, trying to get Akane's attention. Akane however wasn't budging from her spot or reacting to Natsuki's words at all. Closing her eyes and trying to calm down, Natsuki gripped her hand into a fist and looked over at Akane and spoke once again.

"Akane look, I have been calm and I have put up with your drama for far too long, but now I am no longer asking you to do something for us, I am demanding it!" Natsuki yelled as the ring on her right ring finger glowed and the Hime mark on Akane's back reacted to this, and as a result Akane was put in a large amount of pain.

"Natsuki what are you doing?" Mai yelled. Angered, Natsuki pointed the ring at Mai. Clutching her right breast, Mai dropped to her knees as the same pain that Akane felt was now shooting through her own body. "It was given to me by Shizuru. It's her own means of controlling Hime if they get too out of control or won't listen. Now Akane, rise up and go to Mistress Shizuru, that's an order!" Natsuki yelled.

Akane by this point had tears falling from her eyes and the mark of the Hime on her back began to gradually subside until it finally dissapeared. Setting the doll aside, but not before kissing it one last time, Akane rose from her bed. Seeing that she was now receiving the obediency she had asked for, Natsuki left and waited outside the door once again. Before leaving, Akane helped Mai up from where she was on the ground and embraced her one last time as well, and speaking some words to her.

"He would have been four today Mai...he would have been four" Akane choked out. Mai moved to embrace Akane as well but she moved away to go to Natsuki's side unless she were to activate the ring once again. Looking back, Akane said one last set of words. "Cherish the time you have with him Mai, Cherish it now, and forever" Akane yelled before slamming her door and making her way with Natsuki.

Mai looked down at the broken doll that Akane had once held so close. The doll was wearing swaddling clothes one might find on a newborn baby and the artificial hair on its head was a curly brown.

"Oh Akane" Mai whispered to herself as she thought of what would happen to her dear friend. She had been through so much already and now she was being sent out to fight him. The swordsman who had cut down so many of her fellow Hime already. Mai knew that at this point all she could do was pray.

_"Everyone, these are the maidens who shall accompany us to the battlefield and assure us victory after victory" Reito spoke to his loyal troops. Reito's troops, numbering in the hundreds, including Tate and the men under his command looked on at the five women who stood before them alongside Reito. Most of the soldiers were silent but wore on their faces masks of distrust and shock at their commander's choice to break one of the cardinal rules of the battlefield and bringing women onto it. One of the soldiers decided to speak out against it. "Commander what's wrong with you? Bringing these women here and telling us they're gonna fight alongside us? So we aren't good enough to get the job done? Is that it? The man who spoke out was Tate's second in command Masashi Takeda, leader of the second division swordsmen of the Raiders. _

_"Now now, let us not be hasty and not cling to such old wives tales about women being bad luck on the battlefield. I assure you these women, are some of the finest around, living up to the great title of the Valkyries, who ride hard into battle and to claim victory alongside those whom they choose to fight beside. We should be grateful and honored for having been bestowed such an honor by these wonderous maidens" Reito finished._

_"He ain't getting my support, and neither are they. How about you captain?" Takeda asked of Tate, his commanding officer. Silence filled the air until Tate spoke up. "Let him speak, and remember that Reito is our commander. Its up to you if you choose not to like the decision but we follow his orders, or have you forgotten that Masashi?" Tate said finishing his command. _

_Takeda slowly backed off grudingly, knowing that Tate only addressed him by his first name when he meant business. _

_"Thank you Tate, I'm glad to see I can always count on you to stand by me and my decisions, furthermore" "You didn't let me finish Reito" Tate spoke up once again. "The Hime can fight and follow alongside your troops and the others as support, but my men and I won't be needing them. We'll fight on our own and win with our own strength" Tate said firmly. Reito could only groan in dissapointment at Tate's decision and the rooting of cheers that followed from his men. _

_"If that's how you want it Tate, then I won't interfere with the decision of you and your men since I am clearly outvoted" Reito finished. Satisfied with his commander's response, Tate turned to leave and return to his tent along with several of his men._

_"Are you just going to take that from him? You're his commanding officer he should be following your orders down to the letter" Spoke one of the Hime known as Haruka, at her side was a sizable mace, far heavier than a girl her size should be wielding. Reito was silent for a time, watching the captain of the raiders walk away before dissapearing into his tent._

_"I know it may seem a bit egotistical but, that man has claimed more victories for my troupe than any before him. The raiders follow his orders and his alone" Reito said, not faltering even once in his words of the captain of the Raiders._

Tate continued to trudge along the woods. According to an innkeeper the castle of the Hime's would be at least another day or two if he kept on walking. However his injuries from his fight with the spider like Hime had left his only normal hand with a deep wound. The stinger had almost gone through the back of his hand and had that happened it would have meant the end of his journey.

That would be the opinion of a normal person, but not for him. tate had seen his friends killed right in front of him one by one and he was betrayed by his most trusted comrade, and by a woman he thought would love him forever.

"What a joke. I told Reito, along with everyone else that a woman is nothing more than bad luck on the battlefield" Tate muttered to himself. Tate's thoughts were interrupted by an arrow flying straight towards him. Tate narrowly dodged the deadly projectile flying directly at him. Just as he dodged the arrow, three more flew in behind it. Tate rolled forward at the last possible minute, while the arrows pierced the tree he was just standing in front of.

"It seems this heathen dog is quite the formiddable opponent, able to avoid my arrows, albeit narrowly" Called a voice, obviously female. 'Women, nothing but trouble to the bitter fucking end' Tate thought as his good hand found its way around the handle of his sword. 'She's good though, I didn't even catch the sound of her bowstring getting pulled back and letting the arrow go. Got to be either on my toes or keep her in eyesight, only way I'm going to be able to take her down' Tate thought to himself. His grip on his sword still as tight as death and his eye continued to scan the area for her location, taking in any place she could be hiding. Arrows were her specialty so it only made sense to give her as many obstacles as possible.

Quickly ducking into the tree lined forest to his right, Tate stood behind a large oak tree and kept still and quiet, trying as hard as he could to keep his enemy from gaining the advantage.

His train of thought was rudely interrupted as another arrow flew beside him and through a tree that was similar to the one he was standing behind.

'They look just like regular arrows, and they went through those giant trees like they were made of paper' Tate thought to himself. "Well silly swordsman that's because trees are made of paper, or is it paper is made of trees, I can never remember how the process works" said a spritely voice.

"I don't need your shit right now, now beat it you little pest or my sword's going to cut through you next!" Tate threatened to the owner of the voice. Said owner appeared shortly after hearing those words. "Hmm, still acting and talking rashly and without thinking of what you're saying, you never change do you you big lummox" spoke a small elf. His body was devoid of any clothes, his hair was white, and his face wore a mocking smile.

"I've got arrows flying through trees and an archer that I can't find, the last thing I need is for any of the garbage coming out of your mouth to throw off my concentration! now Fuck off!" Tate snarled to the elf once again. "Alright I'll leave but you'll regret not letting me stick around" the elf said as his wings began to flutter and carry him away from Tate. 'Bout time that annoying little bastard took a hike' Tate thought to himself.

Fluttering out into the open, the Elf flew up another six feet before shouting. "HE'S OVER HERE, IN THE FOREST BEHIND THE BIG TREE!!" the elf shouted. 'Dammit!' Tate thought to himself as the fluttering pest once again made his life miserable. It was then that the forest was covered in arrows, most of them nipping at Tate's heels like many many vicious animals. Once out of the forest, Tate came face to face with two women.

One of them was armed with a white long bow, just above the handle was a horse's head. "So, the heathen dog has decided to show himself before us, the all powerful himes!" The archer spoke.

Unwilling to let her tongue continue to flap, Tate spoke. "Better a heathen dog than a slave to a worthless star!" Tate fired back. "How dare you call our star, the source of our power worthless you barbarian!" The archer continued her rant.

"If you find my words too cruel for your ears then do something to silence them Wench, because I'm not going to stay silent for you or your star, and neither is my sword!" Tate roared as he unsheathed the giant blade off of his back and charged at the Archer. Tate brought the massive blade down on top of the Archer, only for it to be intercepted by another girl, and her unusual weapons.

This left a look of surprise on Tate's face as the girl seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"Allow me to introduce you to our melee expert, Akane. Using her tonfas she's able to smash apart anything that gets in her way, once the bottom halves of her weapons start to spin then her foes will only have seconds to get their affairs in order" The archer spoke.

"I know who she is. I also know what she can transform into. I also remember watching her devour one of my best friends!" Tate screamed as he brought the giant sword down again, switching his target over to the new girl. She blocked again with her tonfas, only to still feel the weight of the blade come down on top of her, bringing down to only one leg. "Sister Yukariko, I don't know if I can do this anymore!" Akane said calling out to the archer.

"Akane don't you dare show the weakness that is forbidden by our star! You have been selected by our divine leader and most holiest of women, Lady Shizuru to combat this scourge of a man, now do as I say or I'll be more than happy to bring down upon you the pain of the star" Yukariko yelled as she pulled the ring given to her by Natsuki from her satchel. Akane flinched at the sight of the ring and continued her attack on Tate.

Akane continued to swing her tonfas. The lower portion spun at a fast rate of speed and left a series of gashes in Tate's large blade. "Yes yes! Yes Akane that's the spirit, continue to attack him, don't let up! Kill him! Kill him! Yukariko yelled as Akane continued her attack on Tate, causing him to be pushed back and put on the defensive. Yukariko watched as the sparks of the two weapons filled the air, causing an excitement to build within her loins. Her free hand found its way down to her crotch at the sight of the sparks and strikes. "Yes, keep fighting keep attacking! Keep it up! Oh Yes! Yes! Yes!" Yukariko's shouts of pleasure were interrupted as Tate suddenly sidestepped Akane's strikes and set his sights on Yukariko. Yukariko's eyes, were no longer filled with lust, only with a sense of fear.

"This isn't a spectator sport!" Tate snarled as he brought his sword straight at Yukariko as if it were a spear. Yukariko tried to dodge the strike as best she could, yet Tate still managed to wound her as the razor sharp edge of his sword pierced the left side of her cheek, leaving a deep, bleeding gash.

"Sister!" Akane yelled as she saw the wound. This unfortunatley left her open as Tate swung his sword directly at Akane. She had managed to block the massive blade, but the amount of force the swordman had put into the swing, had broken her Tonfas in half. The resulting shockwave had sent Akane flying backwards. Quickly getting to her feet, Akane scrambled to get beside Sister Yukariko.

"Sister what now? What will we do?" Akane yelled, desperate for an answer. Akane received nothing, only visible trembling from her comrade. "He...touched me...he touched me with that filthy blade, that vile piece of steel touched me!" Yukariko said trembling as she rose from the ground. "You fool. You stupid stupid fool. You should have died on that day five years ago with the rest of your vile comrades, like all the dogs you and your fellow males are. But you survived, and brought about trouble for all of us! The holy maidens of battle! The Hime!" Yukariko screamed as she dug her fingers into the gash Tate had left on her face, deepening her wound. "Sister..."

Akane whispered silently to herself. Her words were interrupted when Yukariko turned to face her. The gash on her face had worsened as she had torn more of it open, causing more blood to spill from it. "Akane, ever since that day four years ago, you've been nothing but an embarrassment to both the Himes and to all of womankind. You locked yourself away and let yourself rot all because of the loss of a man that you devoured on the day of the great sacrifice. Akane, you've disgusted me ever since and if you truly wish to regain any sort of honor to the Hime star, you'll continue fighting alongside me and kill this man" Yukariko said, the sneer never leaving her face.

Akane had been silent and had worn a timid expression on her face up to this point in fear of the ring that Yukariko had brandished, but hearing the scathing words of the nun had caused something in her to snap, and her timid personality had vanished in that same instant.

"You're right Sister Yukariko, I did cry, I was miserable after losing Kazu, but after that horrible day I held onto hope because I knew I was carrying his child, and that even with Kazu gone, a small part of him would still live with me, but I was wrong. My baby was born, but it wasn't born alive. My baby was stillborn Yukariko...I doubt that you, a nun can understand what its like to lose a child, a part of yourself that's gone and never coming back!

Yukariko looked on at her fellow Hime as if she had truly become a fiersome beast. Slowly backing away from her, Yukariko watched as Akane turned to face the swordsman. "I'll fight him Yukariko, I'll fight him, but once he's dead, I'm going to turn my claws on you next!" Akane yelled at Sister Yukariko as the familiar glow began to surround her. The timid melee expert was transforming into her true form of a Tiger like beast.

Unfaltered, Tate tightened his grip on the handle of his sword and steadied himself. "That's right you bitch, go ahead and change, you think I don't know what to expect from you?" Tate muttered to himself. He had been there and had watched as Kazu was devoured piece by piece by that very beast. Now, was the time for revenge.

The glow dissapeared and Tate soon stood face to face with Akane's true form. The creature was that of an armored Tiger like creature with a circular device on its chest. Akane's eyes and the top of her head rested on the top of the creature. "Well, can't say it fits you, you're still too damn frightened to fight me I bet" Tate said, egging on Akane to fight him. "Who said she's fighting alone, swordsman?" Tate quickly turned his head around to see an all too familiar glow surrounding Yukariko.

"In ancient times, its been said that the sound of death approaching, is like that of hoofbeats, and when death shall come, he shall be riding a pale horse!" The glow exploded and Yukariko's new form stood before Tate. The form from the legs down was like that of a horse, the chest area of the creature however had a pair of arms held in a praying position, and the long neck of the creature was topped with a ridged and cylindrical shape that ended with Yukariko's face. "I shall not be easy prey to you or your ridiculous sword you bastard!" Yukariko screamed as she charged at Tate. Tate barely had enough time to dodge and roll out of the way of the fast moving horse like beast. Once he had rolled to a kneeling position, he saw Akane leap right at him. Leafping to the side Tate managed to avoid her fangs, but her claws had managed to sink themselves into the flesh that remained on Tate's severed arm.

"Aghh!" Tate screamed as the wound from the Tiger Hime registered to his mind. Closing his eyes and letting his free hand go to his arm, Tate gripped it, muttering quite a few curses at what had just occured. "Now you're mine fool!" Yukariko shouted as she charged at Tate.

Tate barely managed to sidestep the creature, and as he did he saw the Tiger again come barreling down at him. Leaping over to the side, Tate having learned from his mistake let the Tiger's claws slash across the metal of his fake arm.

"I see that's not going to work on your this time, I'll have to try something a little different!" Akane growled as the circlular device at the bottom of her Neck began to spin. Once it began to spin, Tate soon found himself being dragged in. Grabbing his dropped sword, he plunged it into the ground and watched as various sorts of debris was dragged into the spinning blades, grinded up and destroyed. "Once you go into my blades its over for you!" Akane yelled.

Judging by the debris being dragged in she was right. Thinking as best he could, Tate thought quickly and grabbed a handful of some small, spiked balls with small threads protruding from them. 'Only got one shot at this, have to make it count!' Tate thought to himself. Quickly taking the small balls and running their string ends across the metal of his arm, Tate watched as the strings burned down and sent them flying into the spinning vortex of Akane's blades. Akane couldn't stop the spinning blades fast enough as the small spheres flew right into the vortex. She had unknowingly sucked in a small handfull of active bombs. The explosion was enough to injure the Tiger Hime, and render her blades useless. Tate removed his sword from the ground and sent it crashing down on top of Akane, slicing her heart in two and ending her life.

'Kazu, I'm not going to be able to make it. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I know you won't ever forgive me for what I did, and I understand. Stay there in heaven for me Kazu. Stay there, with our baby. So it can at least be near one of its parents. I'm not allowed there...Kazu' These were Akane's last thoughts as the last bit of her life was sliced in half by the massive blade.

Tate watched as the Tiger like beast, took its last breath and died. Tate however, found himself breaking another of the unwritten rules of the battlefield. Never look your opponent in the eye as they lay dying. It'll end your resolve to fight quicker than any arrow or any sword. Its a rule reserved for all of those who still go to the battlefield with some semblance of their humanity still within them. Tate watched as the tiger beast died, and felt within him some sense of sorrow for having killed the creature. It took almost all of his being to fight off those emotions.

He was screaming inside, that this girl, this demon killed off his best friend, that all of her kind and fellow demons ripped apart his friends and comrades, and that killing her was setting their souls at ease.

_"Tate, that's enough. We forgive you. You don't need to fight anymore" _Tate knew that voice, that voice was of a dead man, and that supposedly dead man was standing right in front of him. "Takeda?" Tate muttered, looking up to see his second in command standing beside him. _"Yeah pal, geez what've you been doing I mean look at you, you're covered in blood and barely holding yourself together, what gives?" _Takeda asked.

"No, no goddamned way I saw you die, I saw you get ripped apart. I saw you and everyone else get killed that day. What kind of fucking bullshit is this?" Tate muttered to the man in front of him

_"Damn chief, you must have been taking too many blows to the head from an enemy's warhammer or something. Now come on, Reito said there are these really beautiful women, like Goddesses we'll be fighting with, he wants you there to meet them"_ The supposed dead man continued on. Those words he chose to speak, and the tone he spoke them in, were all Tate needed to hear, to know he was being lied to. _"Hey, Tate aren't you coming, hey chief, what's up, what're you...noooo!!!!" _The phantom yelled as Tate swung his sword through the ghostly image of his former second in command. His ears were soon filled with the shriek of Sister Yukariko. "Damn You Swordsman! Damn you! How did you see through my illusion?" Yukariko questioned.

"On the battlefield, my men and I followed a sacred rule that women were bad luck on the battlefield, and Takeda followed it to the letter and believed in it. He'd never speak so openly about trusting to fight alongside a woman!" Tate growled as his one lone eye seemed to be lit with a fire not native to this world.

Growling, Yukariko began to paw at the ground with her hoof and charged at Tate. "I'll crush you, armor and all under my hooves you worthless man!" Yukariko growled as she charged at Tate. Tate however readied his sword and swung it right at Yukariko, only to have her dodge it at the last minute, angering Tate even more, causing a change to take place in him. "You'll have to do better than that you fool!" Yukariko smirked as she turned to charge at Tate again. Tate however was undergoing a sort of change. His armor, began to cover all of his body, and beneath his black cloak a helmet resembling that of a feral dog, began to creep up slowly, covering the fanged faceplate that covered the front of Tate's head. Once the change was complete, Tate was nowhere to be found, all that stood was a suit of armor, weilding the same massive blade, and an unholy glow in the eyes of the armor.

"What's this? Some manner of cursed armor?" Yukariko asked as she stopped her advance to see what the swordsman had become. Her thinking was short lived as Tate leapt at her and was on top of her back and brought the sword down on top of her, slicing her in half. Yukariko could only scream as her rear legs were sliced off from the rest of her body. She tried crawling forward as best she could, Tate however would have none of it as he stabbed the massive blade into her, effectively pinning her to the ground. Quickly circling around to the front, Tate shoved the fake arm into Yukariko's mouth, and pulled back the string, sending a cannonball flying out the back of her mouth. Tate then pulled out the giant blade and quickly began to slice Yukariko to bits until there was nothing left of her but blood and entrails.

Satisfied with the results, and seeing no more enemies left to kill, the armor began to retract. Tate then collapsed to his hands and knees and began to greedily take in air and watched as the blood began to drip from the top of his forehead down his face and onto the grassy floor below. "Well I guess the stray dog managed to get himself out of another little mess hmm?" The sarcastic elf had said as it fluttered back to where Tate lay. Tate offered no other words, only gasps of air. "Oh come on now, it couldn't have been that bad, weak old mutt, stupid dog..." The elf's words were interrupted as Tate grabbed him up from behind and began to squeeze. "Well I guess there's still some fight left in the old dog after all, wouldn't you say so, Nagi?" Tate said

Mai had moved to the door to check on the little boy in his chambers, only to find someone there waiting for her. "Natsuki" Mai spoke, feeling a little more worried. "I already checked on him, and he's safely in bed, but if you want to go and say a few words before he nods off I'll be glad to keep watch" Natsuki said. Mai wasn't doubting for a minute the hidden meaning in her voice, and what it would mean if Natsuki heard her. "Umm, no that's okay. Thanks for checking in on him for me" Mai said as she walked away, her heart breaking knowing she couldn't see him one last time.

Natsuki watched her walk away and opened the door a crack to check in on the boy, he slept soundly and was only able to be made out due to the steady rise of his chest from his breathing. Natsuki closed the door and walked away, never knowing that the hand the boy hid under the covers, was concealing a dagger.

"Mark my words you bastard, one day I'll make you pay for using my dust like this!" Nagi yelled from his place on the grassy floor. Tate however wasn't listening as he took off, awaiting the next Hime to cut down, and the next amount of payback and retribution to be gained.

Read and review or not who really cares.


	3. Chapter 3

**Desperate Times part 1**

**Still don't own Mai Hime, still don't want to own Mai Hime. Here's the first part of chapter 3, hope you enjoy it.**

**This is daily crucifixion**

**And these rusted nails leave scars**

**My jagged crown is on my side**

**Anguish is never far**

**Killswitch Engage Desperate Times**

Shizuru sat at her desk with her arms folded across her chest. Neither Akane nor Sister Yukariko had returned, and it was obvious that the swordsman had claimed two more victims, and was still approaching the castle. It would only be a matter of time before he found the castle, and proceeded to lay waste to it and everyone in it. Laying her head down on top of her arms, Shizuru sighed, trying to relax at the impending danger. Her rest would not last for long however.

"Fujino! Your plans to stop that accused swordsman have lead to the deaths of our fellow Himes! This type of behavior is unabashable!" There was no doubting who that was. No one else in the kingdom had a mouth that big and a habit of choosing just the wrong words when trying to make a point. "Haruka." Shizuru said slowly as she lifted her weary head from the desk.

"So you finally decided to lift your head up off your desk and listen to what I have to say. Honestly you lock yourself away in your little tower drinking your tea while all of our fellow Hime sisters, are being slaughtered by some monster with a giant sword!" Haruka yelled at the weary high priestess and lord. The said priestess slowly rose from the desk and grabbed her beloved tea cup and looked down, noticing the stalk was still resting at the bottom of the cup in the same place as before. This slightly bothered Shizuru, which caused a slight tick under one of her eyes, and for her teeth to sink into her bottom lip. "So what do you plan on doing now Fujino? Do you plan on just sitting there and having another cup of tea for yourself? Or do you plan on doing something about..." Haruka's words weren't spoken in time as Shizuru's tea cup was sent flying just an inch away from Haruka's head. Haruka wasn't aware that Shizuru missed her on purpose until she felt the resulting debris from the shattered cup fly past her face, and slice into it, leaving a bleeding cut as a result.

Haruka let one of her fingers rub across her bleeding cheek. Anger slowly began to replace the feeling of shock in her system as she advanced on Shizuru and was prepared to punch her when Shizuru caught the punch in her bare hand, and spoke. "If you really want to outdo me Haruka, then by all means take him down yourself. Use an army, fight him on your own it doesn't matter. Just get the job done; only then will you be fit to wear my title" Shizuru spoke darkly to Haruka.

Breathing in and out repeatedly, Haruka slowly let a smile grow on her features and let the blood on the side of her face slowly fade away. "Alright Fujino. I'll do it, I'll kill him and when I return with his head and sword as my trophies, I'll claim the ultimate prizes. Your throne and your title!" Haruka finished.

Shizuru made note of how serious Haruka really was. She did not stutter, she did not mispronounce any words and she did not look foolish in the least, rather like someone who had just stared down a god and felt mighty proud of themselves for having done it. Storming out of the room and slamming the door on her way out, Haruka made plans and went to go and round up her troops to take down the swordsman once and for all.

Natsuki was wandering the halls of the Castle making her way up to Shizuru's chambers when Haruka stormed out of said woman's chambers with a confident grin on her face. Perturbed, Natsuki walked into the room to see Shizuru standing there, while at her feet her teacup was shattered. "What did she do? What did she say to you?" Natsuki asked angrily. Haruka was known for her stubborn and hot headed personality, but if she dared to lay a finger on Shizuru then Natsuki would personally hand Haruka over to the swordsman with a bow on the top of her head.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all. I merely suggested that if our wonderful sub commander of the guard wants my title so much, then she'll have to succeed where I've failed." Shizuru said with a smirk, tossing her hair back. "You mean you?" Natsuki asked, almost afraid of her response.

"I merely suggested it to her, I never told her outright to go and attempt to take down that sword swinging nuisance. She decided to do that on her own." Shizuru said as she went over to her desk and retrieved a replacement tea cup. She began to pour herself a new cup.

"Look Shizuru, I know you have your issues with her but we don't need to go and feed our own to that monster. We need to stand united, we need to come up with a better plan that just sending the lambs to the slaughter." Natsuki said hoping to get her leader to see the reason in her words.

"Are you afraid I'll send you out Natsuki?" Shizuru asked. Natsuki flinched at this. Natsuki was not afraid of anything and would defend her lady's life with her own, but the swordsman had proven nothing short of unstoppable and without mercy. She hated to admit it, but she was afraid. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, as she felt a pair of arms embrace her. "I would never send you out to fight him Natsuki. You will stay by my side no matter what" Shizuru said tenderly. Natsuki turned around and held her lady close, praying that the monster never made his way here, and take her from her.

Leaving her lady's chambers with a new sense of determination, Natsuki began to devise some new plans on taking care of the swordsman. No more stress or worry would be placed on her lady's shoulders. From this point on any affairs or attacks made on the man would be handled by her alone. One way or another that bastard was going to die, no matter what it took. Natsuki's thoughts were interrupted however when someone ran into her, knocking her to the ground. "Watch where you're, oh, it's you." Natsuki said, looking down to see the young boy that was always with Mai. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to get Mo, I mean Mai as quick as I could, she said were going to have lunch soon" the boy said.

'What was he about to call her?' Natsuki asked herself. Smiling inwardly, never breaking the cool and composed look on her face, Natsuki opened her mouth to speak. "I'll take you to her, and while we're on the way to find her I want to show you something else in this castle. Ok?" Natsuki asked the boy. "By the way, you never gave me your name." Natsuki spoke up.

"Its Takemaru." the boy spoke up giving Natsuki his name. "Ok Takemaru, come with me" Natsuki said, taking him by the hand and leading him down a hallway and towards one of the doors. Removing a key from one her pockets, she unlocked the door and pulled the handle and lead Takemaru into it. Just as the door closed however, Mai was walking down the same hallway looking for and calling out for Takemaru.

Takemaru descended the spiraling stairs with Natsuki, the only light granted to them were the torches on the walls. They continued walking for another two minutes until they finally reached the bottom. What greeted them at the bottom was a long flat platform that was at least ten feet long which stopped and gave way to a dark pit where strange shapes were seen protruding from it in several large piles. The true shapes remained a mystery due to the darkness that inhabited the room. "Wait right here, I need to get a torch." Natsuki said. Takemaru obeyed and waited where he was, yet a feeling of dread seemed to wash over him. His eyes were glued to the strange shapes that lined the pit and what they truly were, along with the disgusting smell that stung his nostrils. His answers were given when Natsuki had lit the torches and Takemaru's eyes flew open with shock at what he saw.

"Takemaru, hey Takemaru where are you? Come on you're going to miss the picnic and Mikoto's going to eat your share of the noodles!" Mai yelled as she looked for her wayward young companion. Seeing Chie, one of her friends walking the hallway, Mai stopped her to get an answer. "Have you seen Takemaru recently?" Mai asked. "No, not recently, I thought he was always with you?" Chie asked.

"No I told him to go and wash up for our picnic and he hasn't come back yet." Mai said, sounding slightly worried. "Well good luck, hope you find him, I'll tell some of the other girls that you can't find him okay?'" Chie said. "Ok thanks Chie." Mai said. Mai took another few steps before bumping into Fumi, one of the caretakers of the castle. "I'm sorry Fumi, I've been trying to locate Takemaru." Mai said while apologizing. "Its fine and I think I saw him with Natsuki earlier" Fumi said.

"With Natsuki?" Mai asked; surprised at the answer she received. That was odd, Natsuki usually didn't like being around Takemaru and made every attempt to avoid him. "Yes, I believe they were going down the sixth Hallway" Fumi said. "The sixth hallway, but that only has the door to the... Oh no, no please let me be wrong!" Mai said as she hurried to the direction of the sixth Hallway.

Takemaru stood there, transfixed by what he saw and began to tremble with fear. Laying in the pit before him, were bodies. Hundreds and hundreds of dead bodies. All of them were no bigger in size than he was; some were even smaller than that. He flinched and put one of his hands to his mouth as he saw a long bug with many legs crawl from one of the mouths of a dead corpse. "Now you see, this is where we dump the bodies of all the male children in this castle. We've been dumping them here for centuries. This is the Chamber of no Remorse." Natsuki said without batting an eyelash.

Takemaru looked on in fear at the bodies. They were probably at one time or another just like he was, children who were killed just for being male. His thoughts were interrupted however, when he felt something on his back, and he was pushed forward into the bodies.

"I've often had theories about you, like why the hell Mai would take such an interest in you, like why she would bring you here in the first place. But that wasn't even the most disturbing thing about you. What bothered me the most was how much you looked like...him." Natsuki said, narrowing her eyes.

Mai ran as fast as she could until she finally came upon the door leading to the Chamber. Over the years the Hime have stayed alive by only allowing the females to go on living, while the males were killed upon discovery of the gender. It was said that it was the only way for them to remain pure and to make sure that their bodies were never violated again in the future. Head priestess lady Shizuru had put out an order for the best scientists in the kingdom to find a way to reproduce without the need for the male reproductive organ. These thoughts were the furthest things from Mai's mind as she threw open the door to the chamber and raced down the stairs.

"That short blonde hair, the color of your eyes. It's almost unmistakable. You're his son aren't you?" Natsuki said coldly as she stood over Takemaru with a stern, and loathsome look on her face.

"No, that's not true. Mai always told me my dad died, that she can't remember him." Takemaru yelled back, hoping to convince the woman in front of him.

"I wish that were true but the fact that several of my comrades have died and it's all because of a man that shouldn't even be alive. I don't need to hear anything more from you. But there is someone I do need to hear from." Natsuki said. Once the words were spoken, the doors to the Chamber flew open, revealing Mai.

Mai stood there, looking on as Takemaru was laying in the pit of dead bodies and Natsuki standing over him. Natsuki had just turned her face over in Mai's direction wearing a cool smirk. "Well now, glad to see you decided to join us Mai. It wouldn't be a family reunion without you." Natsuki said coolly. Seeing no more reason to hide anything, Mai spoke out to her son. "Takemaru, come to me, we're leaving!" Takemaru moved to rise out of the pit as fast as he could, only to have the familiar shape of a small crossbow pointing a bolt directly at his face.

"Make a move to get out of that pit and it'll be your last. Not that you don't belong down there anyways." Natsuki said coldly.

"Natsuki!" Mai growled. The familiar flaming rings surrounded her hands and ankles. "Oh, a fight. Well if that's how you want to go about it, very well then" Natsuki smirked as she dropped the crossbow and a small, metal shape appeared in her hands. "You've never seen my element Mai. But its time you learned that I do more than just attend to our Lady" Natsuki spoke as she pointed the unique device at Mai.

_Tate walked back to his tent after another long seige. They had managed to take out a large number of the enemy's advance guard, but they still hadn't managed to reach the castle stronghold. Still they had managed to do better with the aid of the Hime. Tate hated to admit it but the number of soldiers lost in the battle was nowhere nearly as big as it was with their aid on the battlefield. 'Guess they have their uses after all' Tate thought to himself as he pulled back the flap of his tent. Pulling it back however showed Tate something that was usually forbidden in his tent. A woman. Standing in his tent, was the Hime known as Mai, while she was in the middle of taking her top off. _

_"What the hell are you doing in here?" Mai shouted at the male who had decided to walk in on her at the wrong time._

_"This is my tent, my tent not yours. Your tent is back with the rest of your kind. So get dressed and get out, I'll wait outside since you seem to have something against people looking at you naked" Tate said as he closed the tent flap. Stabbing his sword into the ground, Tate leaned up against it, folded his arms across his chest and waited until Mai would come out of his tent. _

_He waited for a good five minutes before getting frustrated and walked back in to see Mai laying out a few things._

_"Maybe I didn't make myself clear to you, this is my tent, yours is back there. Go back there because I don't want you here" Tate said, getting irritated. _

_"Its not that I don't want to, its that I was ordered to stay with you by your superiors. They said we're supposed to work together like a team out on the battlefield" Mai explained. _

_A Slight tick began to develop under Tate's left eye after hearing this. Not one to let anything go without a fight, Tate scooped Mai up and threw her over his shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes and carried her out of his tent and began his trek over to Reito's main outpost._

_Reito was going over the locations of tomorrow's assualt when his ears were assaulted by the sounds of a young woman yelling to be put down as well as her fists pounding against something. His anwers were given to him when Tate came into the tent with the Hime known as Mai slung over his shoulder. "Let me go you big dumb barbarian, geeze its not like I can't walk on my own! You're a real piece of work you big Jerk!" at this Tate sat Mai down in a nearby chair, amidst the shocked and surprised expressions of her fellow Hime. _

_"Well Tate I'll never tell anyone that you don't know how to make an entrance, or how to get everyone's attention" Reito said, slightly amused. Uninterested in humerous banter, Tate looked Reito in the eye and got right to business._

_"Look Reito, you and I go way back, so far back that you know how I feel about women on the battlefield. Now you're the commanding officer so I'm willing to follow your orders, but this is where I draw the line when you have them staying in our tents like this" Tate said angrily. At this Reito was only slightly amused. His words were interrupted by the head priestess of the Hime Lady Shizuru._

_"I was under the impression that men of your caliber liked having a woman at his side" Shizuru commented before sipping another sip of tea from her cup. Not interested in the words of a Hime, Tate spoke his mind yet again. _

_"This has nothing to do with you Hime so stay out of this, this is between me and my commander" Tate said firmly. "That it may, however it was your commander's choice to have the Hime fight in your battles, so do you still mean that this has nothing to do with us?" Shizuru enquired, knowing a victory when she saw one._

_"Yes Tate, do you still feel this doesn't involve the Hime?" Reito said to Tate. Tate had indeed known Reito a long time, and looking at his eyes from behind the thick black locks, his eyes spoke as if saying: choose your words as if your life depends on it. Seeing he was outnumbered for the time being, and that the case was closed, Tate took his leave, not before noticing out of the corner of his eye, Mai sticking her tongue out at him. This had gotten his attention however._

_"That's no way to treat a comrade" Tate said in a serious tone as he exited the large tent. Undauntered, Mai ran to catch up to Tate, and as she neared him, she watched as he threw his large broadsword over his shoulder, with the tip of the blade pointing straight at her face. This caused Mai to come to a screeching halt. Looking back at his fallen comrade, Tate spoke again in the same serious tone of voice. "We're comrades, nothing more" Tate said before walking away. _

_"Aren't you even going to help me up?" Mai asked. This too caused Tate to turn back and look at her. "If you fight alongside me, you carry your own weight, and you fight your own battles. We watch each other's backs and that's all" Tate said before turning away and walking back to his tent, leaving Mai on the ground. Mai steamed over his treatment of her and stuck her tongue out at him again. Catching the break in her tone of voice, Tate called back. "I heard that" This caused Mai to look even more flustered._

_Before more taunting could occur, Mai looked to see a hand appear before her. Looking up, she saw none other than Reito standing before her. "I see you two are off to a good start" Reito said jokingly. Taking the offered hand, Mai rose up to meet the charming commanding officer. _

_"Why do you keep that jerk around, he's mean to everyone, he's rude and sexist and..." before Mai could continue, Reito spoke. "He's also the best warrior in my army. He's taken down at least a hundred men in one night without stopping for a rest" Reito said to the now silent Hime._

_"So why is he such a jerk to people?" Mai asked. "That's just the way he is, the way he's always been. He's always been alone, always fought alone until he became captain of the Raiders. They're quite possibly the closest thing he's ever had to a family. I guess, he just doesn't want anyone coming in and getting in the way of them" Reito spoke. All manner of humor and jest was gone from his voice._

_"Always, alone" Mai said, thinking about the man she would now be fighting alongside..._

Tate continued his walk alone in the woods, the hood of his cape pulled up over his head. Within the woods he noticed the trees begin to take shape. The branches and the spaces in between began to move around him. _"You've done well. You've killed all of them in front of you, but it isn't enough. You must kill them all to truly be rid of that scourge" _a voice spoke to him. Looking over to his right, Tate saw what looked to be a type of dog floating beside him. Its eyes were like a pair of burning white lights, its skin a long flowing vapor of black smoke, its voice a raspy whisper that would cause the hair of brave men to stand upright.

_"They killed all of them, took them away from you in the blink of an eye. keep killing, keep murdering. Keep hunting, so that we may grow strong, so that we may grow more invincible. So that we may kill them all" _The voice spoke, hoping to penetrate Tate's mind and egging him on so that he would continue to kill and lose more and more of what remained of his humanity. The frightening thing was that it was working.

'Yeah, why not.Goddamit look at me! I lost an eye, an arm, I'm covered in scars and cuts, I feel so much blood on me, it might as well be a second goddamned skin' Tate thought to himself.

_"Let it feed, let it grow. Then one day you and I shall reign supreme, and all who oppose us and those who betrayed you shall know of the world of suffering that you have been struggling in for all these years" _The voice spoke again, further getting into Tate's head. "Yes, Yes I will" Tate said with a darkening grin. Any who saw him in that moment, would have mistaken his teeth for fangs, and his lone eye glowing and glaring not unlike that of the beast. His ears, so caught up in the words of the beast, that they did not pick up on the familiar sounds of the armor taking over, the familair parts of the arm guards covering the skin like tar wrapping around his flesh, the helmet which bore a striking similarity to the beast slowly began to creep up the back of the armor, closing in and around Tate's head.

_"Let it feed, let it grow, make it stronger, make it your way, your life, forever plunged in darkness and destruction!"_ the Voice said. It spoke no more. The armor had taken full control, and blood would soon be spilled.

"Haruka are you sure this is a good idea? I mean this many soldiers just to take down one armed swordsman?" The question was currently being asked by none other than Yukino, Haruka's loyal subordinate and second in command.

"That stupid Bubuzuke, she thought just sending in a couple of her precious Hime at a time would be the best way to deal with that troublesome swordsman, well I'm going to prove her wrong yet again by sending in a hundred of our best soldiers to deal with him, we'll take him on a ton at a time or all at once!" Haruka shouted joyfully. "That's One at a time Haruka, but if you're sure this is the right amount then, okay" Yukino said, still not sure of her commander's orders. Suddenly the troops came to a halt. The forest in front of them yielded some noises.

"You two, go in and scout ahead, report back anything you see or hear!" Haruka ordred. "Yes commander!" The two replied. Moving forward into the forest, the two went in until they couldn't be seen. "All we can do now is wait" Yukino said. Haruka only offered a Hmph in response. All was silent for the next few seconds until screams were heard. The sound of clanking armor could be heard and from out of the darkness the armored figure of one of the girls who had gone in previously emerged. "Run...away" Those were her words as blood fell from her mouth and onto the forest floor. Looking down, all of them saw that she had been impaled on the tip of a very large sword. From out of the darkness of the woods an armored figure resembling a large metal beast emerged, from his mouth came a series of low growls.

Tha'ts it, read and review


	4. Desperate Times part 2

**Desperate Times part 2**

**Don't own Mai Hime, never want to own Mai Hime, now on with the fic. **

SCREAM UNTIL MY EARS RING, BLOOD POURS OUT MY NOSE

LEFT TO FEEL THE DARKNESS, LEFT TO FEEL THE COLD

LEFT TO FEEL THE EMPTINESS WITHOUT YOUR STREETS OF GOLD

I WILL CUT'EM UP , I WILL BRING'EM DOWN

CAUSE I'M A STAIN

I HAVE LITTLE PATIENCE , A TOLERANCE FOR PAIN

CHIP UPON MY SHOULDER, HATRED IN MY BRAIN

THEY MAKE ME FEEL WORTHLESS, THEY MAKE ME FEEL SHAME

HATE ME CAUSE I'M FILTHY, HATE ME I'M A STAIN

I WILL CUT'EM UP, I WILL BRING'EM DOWN

CAUSE I'M A STAIN

DEAD BODIES, ALL AROUND ME

LOOK INTO THE EYES OF YOUR ENEMY

Primer 55 Stain

Yukino watched in horror as the armored figure with the massive sword threw the young female soldier off of his blade, only to slice her apart in midair, and before her body parts had even fallen to the ground, he burst forward and let his blade slice into the first unit. Horses and people alike were cut to pieces. The armor the soldiers wore was little more than wet paper to this monster and his blade.

Not one to let her comrades die in vain, Haruka shouted forth her orders. "Everyone scatter, don't just stand there like scarecrows, move about, use hit and run tactics don't let him gain an advantage!" Haruka yelled.

Her soldiers followed the orders without hesitation, as the swordsman angrily swung and sliced up any that weren't quick enough to get away from him in time.

"Archers! Ready first volley, fire!" Haruka ordered to the crossbow unit. Said unit let a series of crossbow bolts fly at the armored swordsman. A series of bolts rained down on him with only a few piercing his armor. "We got him! Ready the next..." Haruka's voice stopped as she watched the swordsman rip out the bolts and explode from the ground and to the location of the archers. They couldn't get away fast enough as he decimated their ranks. Heads, arms, legs and and any other body part his blade came in contact with flew through the air and rained down.

The swordsman jumped from his position and onto one of the soldiers mounted on horseback, slicing off the young woman's head and then slicing her torso in half as well, leaving her little more than a pair of legs on the squealing horse. Haruka watched as he jumped back onto the ground and charged at a pair of the soldiers who had not come to the fight on horseback. They too were completely sliced to pieces as their blood continued to paint the swordsman's armor.

Yukino could only tremble with fear. What had her beloved Haruka gotten them into? This man wasn't human. He was little more than a devil in iron with a sword that was forged for the sole purpose of decimating a whole army. Yukino watched as one soldier managed to knock the swordsman's blade from his hands, and a small, sliver of hope filled her features, only to leave just as soon as it arrived, when she saw the swordsman grab the soldier by both of her arms, twist them, and then rip them off of her body at the sockets. Blood flew from the open wounds like water from a fountain, leaving Yukino to put a hand to her lips to stave off the bile from rising to her mouth. Her condition didn't get any better as she watched the swordsman pick up the screaming girl, lift her over his head and twist the top of her torso in one direction, while her lower half in another. The sickening act continued until the soldier's body couldn't take anymore, and she snapped in half causing blood to pour out of her body and rain down on top of the swordsman, some of it even falling into the eyeholes of the helmet. The act came to a close when the swordsman lifted the girl up higher and opened the fanged lined opening of his helmet and let the blood pour down inside, almost as if the monster was drinking her blood. Yukino could hold nothing more back and soon vomited at the sight of the swordsman's blood lust and cruelty had reached a limit that no human should ever cross. Tossing the mangled carcass aside, The swordsman took up his blade yet again and continued to obliterate soldier after soldier until Haruka took action.

"Enough! Soldiers, bring me my weapon!" Haruka shouted. Acknowledging their superior's orders, two of Haruka's personal guards left and retrieved a large metal box which both of them hefted over to Haruka's horse. Dismounting, Haruka removed a key from around her neck and opened the lock on the box and opened it up. From within the box Haruka produced a large mace. The handle at least four feet long with a spiked ball larger than any that could be fired from a cannon and covered with a series of spikes at least three inches long. It was truly a nightmarish weapon that no creature, be it man or beast would want to be on the business end of. "Yukino, keep as many as you can back here with you. I'm going down there to deal with him and prove to that bitch Shizuru that I am more than capable of taking down this monster!" Haruka said to her lieutenant. Obeying her master's word, Yukino shouted forth the orders to the remaining troops within earshot as Haruka dismounted from her ride and charged, mace hanging over her shoulder and prepared to swing.

Tate had just sliced apart four of the soldiers on his own when a scream filled his ears. Turning around he watched as the girl with the long blonde hair charged at him with a huge mace. He wasn't quick enough to dodge it as the massive weapon slammed into him. Tate felt the spikes of the weapon dig into his skin. The impact sent him flying backwards, tumbling into a nearby rock. He watched as the girl slammed the giant mace into the ground and stood tall with a smirk on her face. The stupid bitch. Tate felt the spikes dig into his skin and while the blood fell from his wounds, not once did he feel pain during the whole thing. The armor soon healed the wounds from the spikes and the ringing in his head from slamming it into the rock. Rising up from the ground, Tate stood. Sword ready, Tate charged and swung.

Haruka watched as the swordsman's massive blade came barreling down on top of her. Undaunted, she brought her mace forward and let his blade slam into the spiked ball. Her smirk remained as the blade of the swordsman shook as it tried bringing down the unmoving spiked ball. "I see now that those ridiculous Hime were totally unecessary in taking you down, you armored nuisance. I should have stepped forward to deal with you a long" "Uhhh, Haruka I really think you should" Yukino shouted, interrupting Haruka's rant. "Yukino don't interrupt me when I'm talking. I have the situation totally under con...trol" Haruka's words were cut short as she saw the swordsman's blade causing a crack to slowly spiderweb along the center of her mace. "No way, no way in hell are you that strong" Haruka muttered as she watched her vaunted war mace slowly start breaking under the weight of the sword and the strength of the monster wielding it.

Seeing her commander in trouble, Yukino shouted. "Charge! Attack the swordsman while our commander has him pinned down, don't allow him to gain even an inch!" Several of the swordswomen and lancers charged in hoping to aid their commander. The swordsman however had other ideas. Sending his foot into Haruka's stomach, she flew backwards, taking her mace with her. Haruka could only stare on in horror as her fellow comrades charged in, only to be chopped to pieces by the swordsman. One slice for their weapons and another for their bodies. It wasn't long before the ten soldiers sent in to deal with him were now new arrivals among the fresh corpses that he had made. Haruka's mouth soon ran dry as the swordsman continued his path of destruction. How could one man leave such a large number of bodies with very little effort? The most puzzling question however, was how could he do it without even flinching. Seeing her commander in trouble, Yukino took action. Grabbing a fallen crossbow, she fired off a shot, sending a bolt flying for the side of the swordsman's ribs. Yukino let a small smile form across her lips as she saw the bolt make contact with the swordsman's ribs, yet it once again vanished as he ripped the bolt out and changed his focus over to her. Slowly approaching her, the swordsman let his blade rest on top of his shoulder. Yukino couldn't help but tremble at the sight of this man. She had only wanted to get his attention away from her commander, and now she was seemingly tasked with killing him. Every step he took towards her, was as if the devil himself was advancing. Then to further her fears to another level, his sword moved from its place on its shoulder. Her eyes were so focused on the massive blade of the swordsman, she failed to notice his metal arm flying right at her jaw, sending her flying backwards several feet.

Haruka watched as the swordsman smacked Yukino away with his metal arm, sending a red, rope-like strand of blood from Yukino's mouth, along with a few of the young girl's teeth. Yukino was never meant for a battlefield, and this monster knew this. Haruka looked on as one of her fellow soldiers ran screaming at the swordsman. This was a mistake, giving the swordsman all the information he needed as he let himself spin back around and send his metal fist flying at the young soldier. Her head soon flew back off of her shoulders as well and tumbled back into the pile of bodies the swordsman had left in his wake. Deciding to take matters into her own hands once again, Haruka took up her cracked mace and charged at the swordsman.

Yuuichi was ready to send his sword down on the hapless young girl now that the now headless nuisance was out of the way. Just as his blade was ready to descend Yuuichi felt a stabbing pain in his back. Pulling away and turning around he saw the girl with the war mace standing before him. He was ready to attack when the girl slammed her mace down upon him yet again. She continued to slam it down upon him until all she saw was blood flying up out of the armor. The battlefield was soon filled with the marriage of her mace slamming against his armor, along with the squishing noises of the spikes connecting with his flesh. The brutal attack came to an end once the girl no longer saw movement from the monster.

"Stay Dead You Bastard!!! Stay Dead!!!" Haruka shouted as she sent her mace down one last time. Removing the spikes from his armor. Haruka slammed the mace down into the ground a ways away from the swordsman. Breathing in the air around her greedily Haruka looked on at the still form of the once deadly monster. Feeling a sense of safety finally return after a few minutes had passed, Yukino made her way over to Haruka. "Haruka, you did it! You killed him!!" Yukino said happily through her missing teeth. Haruka offered a tired smile in response as she saw Yukino run to her and throw her arms around her tired commander. The feeling of elation for the two was deep. Deep enough that Yukino let her lips meet Haruka's in a tender and warm kiss. This happy moment was not to last as Haruka's mouth was soon filled with a warm substance that tasted like that of copper, with a hint of salt. Opening her eyes, Haruka looked on to see the Swordsman still standing, breathing heavily from deep within his armor. The fact that the bastard was still standing wasn't what shocked Haruka the most, but it was that his sword had just been swung, and looking down. She noticed that Yukino's legs and upper waist were now just falling back onto the floor of the battlefield. Moving back the head of her closest friend. Haruka then mentally digested that the substance that once inhabited her mouth was Yukino's own blood.

Staggering back nervously. Haruka gripped her mace and looked into the eyes of her closest friend and watched as they rolled back into her head. Yukino's arms went as limp as wet noodles, causing her to slip off of Haruka's shoulders and fall to the ground. Haruka saw the swordsman standing there, undaunted and waiting for the girl to make the first move. Her soldiers were dead, her most beloved comrade now lay in half on the floor of the battlefield and her war mace was on the verge of breaking apart, still none of these thoughts made it through to Haruka's head as she charged forward at the swordsman. Hope surged within her as she saw exhaustion seem to finally set him for him when his sword fell from his hands. The Mace was ready to fall, with no means to avoid it and victory would soon be hers, until the swordsman pointed his metal hand at Haruka. Haruka didn't even have a second to realize what was going on until a flaming ball of death flew from the cannon that was hidden beneath the fake hand until it was too late.

Tate watched as the cannonball flew through the back of the girl's head, not even leaving a single part of her skull intact. The mace fell to the ground for the last time and the body as well. The commander was dead, her soldiers were now corpses, and now all was quiet. His helmet slid back under his cloak, while he leaned down to one knee and supported his weight on his blade, the blood and sweat dripping off of his forehead and onto the forest floor. The mixture fell into a puddle beneath Tate, darkening it, all the while taking on a shape of a familiar, feral dog like creature. Tate knew of this beast and its voice as it began to speak._'Very well. You did good to satiate my blood lust. Keep it up and victory shall be yours' _

Tate could only stare down at the voice as exhaustion had finally kicked in and he fell to the ground.

Mai heard the last lock, snap into place around her wrist. Securing her and keeping her from escaping the dungeon where all the breeders were kept. "You brought this onto yourself Mai, now you must reap what you have sewn. Its only thanks to the mercy of our divine Lady that you're allowed to live and hopefully give us a daughter when all is said and done" These words came from Natsuki's mouth before the door was slammed shut. Mai looked on at the eyes and faces of all the men kept in the chambers and were responsible for keeping the female population alive in the castle town. Their eyes weren't filled with lust, they were filled with anger. Natsuki knew of this and used this fact to her advantage. This wasn't going through Mai's mind at the moment, what was going through her mind was the safety of her son as she thought back to the battle down in the chamber.

_Mai charged forward at Natsuki, intent on burning the raven haired girl to cinders for what she had done to her child. Mai however was more than shocked as the strange device in Natsuki's hand released a silver ball of energy that came right at her. Mai barely had any time to dodge the shot as it left a scar on her cheek. Flying back, Mai dodged a few more shots from Natsuki's strange device. The cold feeling on the side of Mai's cheek told her that blast was ice based in nature yet she was far more precise with it than Mai was with the flames generated by her rings. "As I said Mai, I do more than just tend to Lady Shizuru. Everyday I practice shooting off the wings of the smallest insects with these devices, but my greatest feet of all in doing that Mai, is letting them live afterwards. Its meant as a testament to my skill and the level of cruelty I show to those who are beneath me" Natsuki said, turning her eyes to Takemaru. _

_"Much like this worthless little rodent of a child" Natsuki said raising the silver device and pointing it at the young boy. The boy's eyes widened in response, knowing just what that device could do if it could leave a scratch on his mother's face. Said woman appeared at the last minute to protect the young boy by throwing up a flame shield at the last minute._

_"Anything to protect your son, eh Mai?" Natsuki said in a manner that almost sounded mockingly. "That's right Natsuki! I don't care who his father is or was he's still my son and I'll protect him no matter what!" Mai said as she sent a stream of flames in Natsuki's direction. _

_The raven haired girl rolled over to the side, avoiding the burning hot flames and turning the strange devices back towards the young boy. Mai quickly sped forward and blocked the next shots of the dark haired girl. "That boy is both your most precious treasure Mai, and your greatest weakness!" Natsuki yelled as she leapt forward to Takemaru, with the strange devices pointed right at him. Takemaru fell back onto the corpses beneath him, but was unprepared for the feeling of the corpses falling apart beneath him. Years and Years of decay had made the bodies as fragile as paper when enough weight was brought down upon them. Takemaru watched as the shots sailed overhead and away from him, while another corpse fell on top of him, its hollow eye sockets starring back at him while a pile of feasting maggots fell from the mouth of the corpse and onto the boy's face. His screams filled the chamber and even caused some of the castellans in the upper yard to question what they heard that day. _

_Quickly flying down into the hole, Mai scooped up her son and held him close, this unfortunately left an opening for Natsuki to exploit, as a shot was fired, nailing Mai in the back. Mai soon fell to the ground. "Mom, mom please get up" Takemaru begged. Looking over at her son with half lidded eyes, Mai smiled. "Takemaru, always know that I'll love you, and I'll be with you" Mai followed up her words by sending one final volley of flames at Natsuki, causing the ice wielder to retreat to the entryway of the chamber. Seeing an opportunity, Mai sent another volley to the wall on the far end of the chamber, causing a sizable hole to form. "Now run, go now and get out of here, and don't stop running until you're miles away from here now go!" Mai urged Takemaru. "No mom I won't go without you!" Takemaru's words were interrupted by a familiar blast of ice just barely missing his head. "There's no time now go!" Mai urged. Knowing that when his mother's voice sounded like that it was better to listen to her orders, Takemaru ran for the hole on top of the corpses, all the while using the darkness as a means of staying hidden from the woman of ice._

_"Oh no you don't you rodent!" Natsuki yelled as she sent off another volley at the boy. The blasts nipped at his heels and sent dust and maggots up in the air. Natsuki narrowed her eyes at the sight of the boy, finally getting a bead on him. "Noo!!" Mai yelled as she leapt in front of the blast and throwing up a shield at the last minute to protect her son. Mai had unfortunately been unable to keep track of the second device Natsuki held in her hand, resulting in a hidden volley of shots firing at her side and connecting. Feeling the numbing sting of the blasts finally take hold of her, Mai collapsed. Looking back, Mai smiled as she saw Takemaru had made it through the hole she had blasted through the wall. She had hoped she could have gone with him but some thing were unavoidable, much like her current position. A slap from Natsuki brought her back to reality._

The door slammed and now Mai was left with the angry breeders who no longer had lust in their eyes, but rather they had anger. One of them approached her. His wrists were malformed and mishappen. He had broken his wrists in order to get free from his manacles, and the bones had reset on their own. He could no longer uses his hands for practical purposes. "So they tossed you down here with us did they Hime?" The angry Breeder asked. His face was unshaven and some of his teeth had long since rotted away from his mouth. "They think we'll rape you or hurt you? No girl, no, we're waiting for him to come. For our Messiah to come and pass judgment on you and the rest of our kind. He shall come and bring his sword down onto you, and kill you, all of you. You'll all die in the hell you've created Hime!" The Breeder yelled angrily. Looking up to the night sky to the full moon hanging there, the breeder screamed. "Come to us our savior, Come to us. We Are Starving Heaven!!" He yelled once again, hoping for his prayers to receive an answer.

Tate soon rose up from where he lay on the ground and dragged his aching form over to a nearby cave, but not before washing the blood off of his face in a stream not far from the cave. This place would do for the night. Some time of healing and then get back on the move. The army had taken alot more out of him than he had thought, they had slown him down and maybe even given their comrades a chance to prepare better for his arrival. 'Fuck' he thought to himself. Still pain and wounds spoke louder than reason, so rest was top priority and once he was feeling better, then revenge would be his.

Natsuki returned to Shizuru's chambers after locking away Mai, and prepared to give her report to her lady. "She's locked up, but that brat son of hers got away" Natsuki said as she bowed before Shizuru. "Its been over eight hours and still no word back from the army. None have returned. I'm guessing we can only assume the worst for them" Shizuru replied. A visible cringe and a look of dread fell over Natsuki's face at this. "He's still in the dark about the boy?" Shizuru asked. "Yes M'lady, if anything he still remembers what Mai did to him that day, so its unlikely he'll do anything other than try to kill her when he sees her again" Natsuki replied. "Then we may be able to use this to our advantage. Still the boy must be dealt with, and we can't afford to send out anymore useless soldiers, he'll more than likely just slice them apart. We need to send someone stronger. "We can't afford to send anymore of the Hime, we need all the strength we can muster here. So that when he makes it here we'll be ready" Natsuki argued. "Natsuki we must do what must be done, now summon Mikoto, I have something that may give her an edge over the swordsman" Shizuru spoke as she produced a box from one of the drawers of her desk.

Uneasy yet still willing to obey her lady, Natsuki complied. "Yes M'lady" Natsuki said as she left the chamber. Minutes later Mikoto was in the room with two of the most powerful women in the country. "Where's Mai" Mikoto whined, hoping to find out where her favorite companion had vanished off to. "She's sick Mikoto, she has to be kept inside. Someone made her sick and he's run off Mikoto, we need you to take care of him" Shizuru said as she leaned into Mikoto's ear. "Who hurt Mai? I'll kill him? Who?" Mikoto said unsheathing her sword. Shizuru couldn't help but mile at how easily the young girl could be manipulated. "Takemaru, he's hurt mai Mikoto, and now he's run off and you must kill him" Shizuru said in response to Mikoto's question. "Takemaru, he's Mai's son, he'd never hurt her, he wouldn't, he wou..." Mikoto's argument was interrupted by the collar being snapped around her neck, Mikoto froze in place.

"Yes he has Mikoto, he's hurt her really badly, and now you must go and kill him, show him no mercy Mikoto, let Miroku be your hammer to deliver his judgement" Shizuru said to Mikoto. The collar was designed to leave the wearer in a state of mind that was easily hypnotized and manipulated. Shizuru smiled, Mikoto's mind was hers to control. "He hurt Mai" Mikoto whispered to herself. The collar was doing its job and influencing Mikoto's mind. "Yes he has Mikoto, and he must be punished" Shizuru replied again. Hearing enough, Mikoto stepped forward and grabbed Miroku and threw open the door to Shizuru's chambers. Following the girl along, Natsuki saw her jump out of the tower, and down to another just beneath it. Mikoto continued this act until she was on the ground. Natsuki watched as the girl got down on all fours and took off into the night. "There she goes, think she'll be able to survive?" Natsuki asked.

"If she can kill the boy that will be enough" Shizuru replied as she poured herself yet another cup of tea. "I'm going to finish this and then turn in, make sure I'm not disturbed Natsuki" Shizuru ordered.

"Yes M'lady" Natsuki replied as she closed the door to Shizuru's chambers.

**Okay read and reply, you know the drill**


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